Reef Resort Yucatan, Telchac, Xcambo
It seems that the further we get from the resort, the more exotic the people’s faces become. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking from an overeager gringo like me. I want to photograph really authentic, ethnic subjects in traditional clothing and backgrounds. My trigger finger twitches at the thought of using these locals as my subjects.
A local girl named Dianela modeled for us in the morning at nearby fishing village Telchac. The images we’re getting with Michele and Monte are stunning. We feel like we’re on location for National Geographic. Or Vogue. Or The Enquirer, since there are eight of us crowding in to take pictures of a single subject. It must feel like ambush paparrazi attacks.
Back at the resort for lunch, we learned that some of our models for the week had had to cancel (work and family commitments, no ride, etc). I approached one of the resort’s masseuses (whose name turned out to be Suzuki) and asked if she’d be interested. Actually, John did the asking and I continued to smile and point. She said “si” so that brought our model count for tomorrow to three.
We already had a male model for the afternoon. Abigayil worked at the resort and was eager to be photographed in exotic Yucatecan surroundings. But we needed more than one subject. Michele introduced herself to a young French-Canadian couple from Montreal. She asked them if they’d model for us at a nearby Mayan ruin. Or “roons”, as MIchele calls them. Mark and Cynthia had been at the resort for a week and were weary of hanging around the pool. So off we went.
The Xcambo (shkam-BO) ruins were only about 15 minutes away. Abigayil wore black and donned a large sombrero for his portraits. There was beautiful light on the his dark skin and reflecting off the light grey Temple stones. The best photographs of him were in silhouette against the ruins. Cynthia was beautiful and exuded a certain air of confident sophistication. She had striking Anglo looks, and as soon as we put her into a traditional Mexican dress she looked perfect for the part. But Mark was the real surprise of the day. He shined up like a new penny, as they say. He looks like actor Chris O’Donnell and photographed extremely well. We felt really fortunate to find such terrific models.
by John
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